Over the years, big-time mob epics have become an indelible part of pop culture. From the original Scarface and its remake to The Godfather films and all points in between. The idea of the well dressed and charismatic sociopath who just wants to make good for his family is something that a lot of people could get behind, crimes be damned.
Some have tremendous endings that stand the test of time, and others… well, not so much. Here are five great mob movie endings, as well as five that are awful.
Great: Goodfellas
Goodfellas is almost always cited as having one of the great opening sequences and lines in cinema, but it also has one of the best endings, too. The story of Henry Hill comes to close with the real-life robbery of the Lufthansa vault at JFK airport by his friend Jimmy.
Meanwhile, Henry and Tommy start making deals on the side which ultimately lead to Tommy’s murder and Henry getting arrested for dealing drugs. He makes the hard choice to enter Witness Protection and “live life like a schnook.”
Awful: Casino
In contrast to Scorsese’s previous film, Casino looks pretty tame. Instead of focusing on the gritty New York side of the mob, he heads to the glitzy world of Las Vegas. While the film isn’t awful, it’s ending is.
Sam escapes his car bombing, Nicky’s murdered for being out of control, the mob loses casinos to corporations, and, after everything, Sam just heads back to being a sports handicapper, right where he started.
Great: Godfather
After Don Vito Corleone suffers a heart attack, it is left to his then reluctant son, Michael, to rally the troops and maintain power. It’s one of the most thrilling scenes in a film’s climax, period. As Michael is attending the christening of his Godson, his henchman are out whacking all of the competition.
Afterward, as Connie tries to warn Kay about her husband, Michael flat out denies all of it. Right after, his men come to pay their respects to Don Micheal as they close the door on her. For film buffs, it’s one of the few absolutely required scenes in all of cinema to watch.
Awful: The Irishman
The long-awaited adaptation of “I Heard You Paint Houses,” The Irishman hit Netflix this last November and was a huge hit for anyone who loves mafia movies. The saga of the Bufalino crime family and their relationship to Jimmy Hoffa played like the Avengers: Endgame of crime movies, but it didn’t quite manage to stick the landing.
After all of the drama reached the crescendo, fans wound up with half an hour of watching our heroes dwindle into senior citizenship while holding onto their secrets.
Great: Godfather, Part II
“I know it was you, Fredo, you broke my heart.” The line is one of the most chilling in any of The Godfather films, but what happens next is even more so. Michael makes sure Fredo stays alive until their mother passes. Kay reveals that she had an abortion to make sure no one else is sired into The Family.
Michael banishes her and takes custody of their kids. Meanwhile, Tom Hagen lets a key witness know that his family will be provided for. Pentangeli then offs himself after the reassurance. Once Mama Corleone passes on, Fredo’s done for, and the king, Michael, stands alone.
Awful: Godfather, Part III
The final chapter of The Godfather is, for many, a very muddied affair. For everyone that bemoans the ending of The Sopranos, this film’s ending isn’t much better. After spending much of the film trying to essentially buy his way into heaven, Michael Corleone has lost plenty of familial relations over the years, his daughter’s death being the most tragic, as she shot in the steps of the Opera. After being left alone, Michael dies of old age.
Great: Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco is a different kind of mob movie. Sure, a lot of the bad guys are charismatic and likable, but much of the action swirls around Johnny Depp’s performance as an undercover fed, posing as Donnie.
Torn between his duty as an FBI agent and his genuine respect for Lefty Ruggiero, the case comes to close and Lefty heads to what might be his death. Thanks to the work Joe Pistone put in on the case, over 100 members of the mob were convicted. He also lives with a 500 grand bounty on his head.
Awful: Gangster Squad
2013’s Gangster Squad had everything going for it and against it all at the same time. The movie featured a great cast of Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone. But, it was pushed back by the 2012 Colorado theater shooting. The film’s storyline, while true, was very similar to the also true story of The Untouchables. The poorly received and written movie wasn’t helped a silly ending, which had to be reshot as well due to the same shootings.
Great: The Departed
When a movie gets seemingly an entire movie-going nation to talk with faux-Boston accents for a little while, you must’ve done something right. Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, The Departed did that and a heluvalot more.
The game of cat and mouse between two cops, one posing as part of the mob, and the other raised by the mob and working as a cop came to a close as Sullivan got the jump on Billy and was able to even frame Barrigan as a mole. But, the foul-mouthed Dignam had figured it all out and put a bullet in Sullivan to end the Academy Award award film.
Awful: Savages
Savages was supposed to be a return to form for Oliver Stone, but he flubbed the whole thing after choosing to rely on the “it was all a dream” cliché. After a massive shootout, Ophelia injected herself to OD and die with her friends. However, she wakes up from her nightmare as the cartel has her carted off, and she and her friends head to live their lives like… well, savages.
